Ignorance No Excuse: A Breakdown Of Barrister Odenigbo’s Legal Perspective On Nigeria’s Advertising Regulations

The Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) Stakeholders Forum held yesterday at the Sheba Events Centre, Lagos, provided a comprehensive overview of Nigeria’s advertising regulatory framework, with particular emphasis on compliance requirements under the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Act 2022.

At the event, the presentation by Barrister Charles S. Odenigbo, Director-General of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), titled “Advertising Compliance in Nigeria: Legal Perspective,” comes at a critical time following ARCON’s recent court victory that affirmed its authority over social media advertising regulation.

Odenigbo grounded his presentation in established legal precedents, drawing extensively first from the 60-page judgement of the ruling of the Federal High Court in Lagos by Honourable Justice Aluko in Suit No.FHC/L/CS/1262/2024, which was filed by Digi Bay Limited (trading under the name and style of Betway Nigeria), Super Group Limited, and Otunba Kunle Olamuyiwa against the Attorney General of the Federation and ARCON; and from Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions to establish the framework for professional misconduct in advertising.

He referenced the landmark case of OKIKE v. LPDC (2005), where the Supreme Court established that professional bodies themselves, through their appropriate organs and committees, determine what constitutes professional misconduct leading to disciplinary action.

This principle, he explains, directly applies to the advertising industry through ARCON’s statutory committees: the Council, ASP, and the Advertising Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (APDC). The presentation emphasized that these bodies have the exclusive authority to determine and enforce professional standards in advertising, mirroring the disciplinary framework established for legal practitioners.

The centrepiece of Odenigbo’s presentation was the detailed analysis of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act 2022, which he described as the primary law regulating advertising standards in Nigeria. The Act establishes ARCON as “the apex regulatory authority for the Nigerian advertising industry” with exclusive powers to determine, administer, monitor, and enforce compliance on all matters relating to advertisements and marketing communications.

He added that the key regulatory provisions and the act’s primary objectives, as outlined in Section 2(1), include establishing an effective, impartial, and independent regulatory authority; ensuring all advertisements directed at the Nigerian market are “legal, decent, honest, truthful, and mindful of Nigerian culture”; preventing misleading, harmful, or offensive advertisements from reaching Nigerian consumers and promoting local content and entrenching international best practices

Of particular importance is the fact that the Act applies to all individuals, organizations, government agencies at federal, state, and local levels that engage in or benefit from advertising services, demonstrating the comprehensive scope of ARCON’s authority.

On Professional Misconduct, Disciplinary, penalty & Enforcement Framework

The presentation detailed the multi-tiered approach to addressing professional misconduct in advertising. The Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) bears primary responsibility for ensuring advertisements conform to federal laws and the Code of the Advertising Profession. The Advertising Practitioners Investigating Panel (APIP) conducts preliminary investigations into alleged misconduct cases and determines whether cases should proceed to the Disciplinary Committee or the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT).

This framework draws from medical and legal profession precedents, particularly the case of M.D.P.D.T v. OKONKWO (2001), which established that professional misconduct charges must involve “serious infraction of acceptable standard of behaviour or ethics” that would “bring the profession into disrepute if condoned or left unpenalized.”

For criminal penalties and enforcement mechanisms, he referred to section 34 of the ARCON Act establishes criminal penalties for violations to include for individual offenders, a minimum fine of ₦500,000 or one year imprisonment, or both;  for corporate entities: a minimum fine of ₦1,000,000 and for directors and officers: Personal liability for corporate violations committed with their connivance or attributable to their neglect.

Section 54 of the Act addresses financial penalties for unauthorized publication or exposure of advertisements without approval, while Section 59 grants the Minister power to make regulations, and Section 61 empowers the Council to create additional regulations as needed.

According to him, the establishment of the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT) under Section 37 creates a specialized judicial body for trying criminal matters related to advertising throughout the federation, shows the federal government’s commitment to addressing unwholesome and unethical advertisements.

Compliance Requirements, Professional Standards

Odenigbo emphasized that practitioners and licensed organizations must maintain continuous awareness of the Nigerian Code of Advertising, Vetting Guidelines, Advertising Industry Standards of Practice (AISOP), sectorial associations’ codes and constitutions, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Court and tribunal decisions.

The presentation stressed that compliance serves multiple purposes: ensuring ethical advertising, respecting professional ethics, maintaining media wholesomeness, protecting consumers, and safeguarding vulnerable populations including minors and young persons.

For advertising practitioners, agencies, media houses, and corporate advertisers, this regulatory framework demands heightened attention to compliance procedures and ethical standards. The financial penalties and potential criminal liability shows the serious consequences of non-compliance with Nigeria’s advertising regulatory requirements. Like Odenigbo emphasized a breach of the law will not tolerate the excuse of ignorance.